Choke on this, Progressive Obama Haters!

About as eloquent as it can get, this Washington Monthly writer puts Obama solidly in the context of the Black Civil Rights struggle.

Obama is winning. Democrats are uniting behind him, although some white progressives think that they could do the job better. Independents are flocking to him. Even some Republicans are getting disgusted with their Washington leaders. Obama is not telling us about lack of seriousness of the Congressional GOP; he is showing us the vivid contrast between what we expect of our leaders and their behavior. The last two and half years have been a revelation of the essential conflicts in our society and politics.

If white progressives understood much about the politics of the African American struggle in the United States, we would see Obama in the context of that struggle and understand him better. And you don’t have to be African American to know something about the history of the African American struggle. The books and the testimony is there. It’s not all freedom songs. But you have to be convinced that it is something that can teach you something you don’t already know.

As Iowan nutjobs make their twisted preferences known, as another wingnut Texan prepares to recycle tired, worn out GOP platforms that no longer apply to this new America, as the RNC/FNC propaganda machine starts cranking out one lie after another, and as Teabaggers couch their contempt for anything not to their liking in subtle and/or flagrant comments and/or acts of racism, this quiet, self-assured, confident, and gracious man will assure himself another four years. Those on the left who decry Obama's failures to further a more progressive agenda have only themselves to blame for not truly understanding the landscape, and for failing to rise above the cesspool of hatred that typifies the Republican Party. We are a better country for having elected Barack Obama, we are a better country for following him as president, and we will be an even better country with him as president for another four years.